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Zimbabwe marks 30 years of independence

Tabelo Timse

President Robert Mugabe on Sunday issued an unprecedented appeal for an end to politically and racially driven violence in Zimbabwe, as the nation marked 30 years of independence.

"The leadership of the inclusive government urges you to desist from any acts of violence that will cause harm to others and become a blight on our society," he told a ceremony in Harare marking the anniversary.

"As Zimbabweans, we need to foster an environment of tolerance and treating each other with dignity and respect irrespective of age, gender, race, ethnicity, tribe, political or religious affiliation."

It was the first time Mugabe had ever issued such a call for non-violence, in a nation that has been wracked by political turmoil through much of its recent history.

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Traffic jams clogged the streets around the National Sports Stadium as Zimbabweans gathered by the thousands for Sunday's celebrations, including township residents bused in early in the morning.

The stadium was decked out in Zimbabwean flags, but participants wore normal street clothes after a warning earlier in the week that political gear and party regalia would not be allowed.

It is the second year running that Zimbabweans across the political divide have joined in the commemorations, which in previous years had turned into rallies for Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.

Mugabe - who at 86 is Africa's oldest leader - delivered his speech as his rival in the power-sharing government, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, looked on.

Fanuel Chikwakwaire, a jobless 30-year-old from Glen View township, called for a change in leadership after three decades' domination by Mugabe of the political landscape.

"On this day I am hoping for change, especially for the president," Chikwakwaire told AFP at Sunday's ceremony. "He is not going to go on and on. The talks must end now so we can vote."

Mugabe, a former guerrilla leader, was hailed as a hero when he led Zimbabwe to independence in 1980 from the white-minority Rhodesian regime.

He invested in clinics and schools and made Zimbabwe a regional model of economic stability.

But now the country needs food aid for most of its rural population, the result of a spectacular economic collapse through which Mugabe retained a stranglehold on the presidency.

Mugabe fell out with his Western allies following land reforms in 2000 in which militant ZANU-PF members seized land from white commercial farmers.

The ensuing chaos undermined the agriculture-backed economy, which shrank to half its 1980 size. The Zimbabwean dollar went into free-fall, with hyperinflation spiralling to the point that prices doubled every day.

Western sanctions, including an asset freeze on Mugabe and his circle, were imposed after 2002 elections that observers said were rigged.

The government put itself in isolation, expelling foreign journalists, demonising the former colonial power and straining an already touchy relationship with the West.

In 2008, the end seemed near for Mugabe as the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won a majority in parliament.

But MDC leader Tsvangirai withdrew from the presidential run-off election, citing violence against supporters. Mugabe hung on through months of talks to remain president in a power-sharing deal.

The unity government with Tsvangirai has restored some stability to the economy by ditching the former currency.

But the on-again, off-again partnership has also been bogged down in haggling over the allocation of key political posts.

The unity government is supposed to pave the way to fresh elections, but a date for new polls has not been set.